Healthy catering options for any event

With the world becoming increasingly health conscious; nutritious and sustainable foods are now an ever-growing trend within the catering industry and with the right caterer you can provide freshness, variety and wholesome foods for your meeting or event.

This doesn’t mean that you must make huge changes to your catering menu to accommodate healthy choices, there are numerous simple steps that you can take to ensure there are healthier yet delicious options available for event attendees:

• Always consider the potential dietary requirements of your guests and include options that cover gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, and vegan diets.
• Think about portion sizes for each menu item you choose, for example opt for ‘cake bites’ rather than a big slab of cake! Perhaps go for mini pastries, rather than large ones for any breakfast events etc
• Never forget about the power of food appearance… As the saying goes “you eat with your eyes first” so having nicely presented healthy foods will result in more guests opting to eat and enjoy them. Check out your chosen caterer’s website photo before confirming your order!
• Have healthy alternatives available – side salads instead of crisps, fruit instead of cake, wholemeal bread instead of white.

Breakfast ideas – try to include a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to give your body the fuel it needs to focus and conquer the day! Continental breakfast items such as yoghurt & granola, fruit, and mini pastries with fresh juice and coffee offer a nicely balanced start to the day.

Lunch/ evening meals – Include salads in buffet spreads… this doesn’t mean a boring bowl of lettuce but amazing fresh pasta salads, couscous, bulgar wheat and chopped salads!

When including protein in the offering, ensure they have been grilled/ steamed or roasted rather than fried to cut down on fats.

Adding healthy sharing platters like falafel or carrots and cucumber with a hummus or tzatziki dip ensure attendees are getting some nutrients within their meal.

Canapes – Go for less fried options and more fresh sounding canapes like mozzarella, cherry tomato & basil skewers, smoked salmon & cream cheese crackers etc.

Snacks – offer fresh seasonal fruit/ granola bars for a healthier afternoon snack or sharing sides like guacamole dip with tortilla chips.

Drinks – opt for lower-calorie drinks such as skimmed milk for hot drinks, sparkling/ still water, diet sodas, and even low-calorie beer/ wine when required.

At R&V we always give the option to add on healthy extras or choose a more nutritious bread for health-conscious attendees. Or to fully plan your event menu around health, we have recently added a ‘Health-Kick Buffet’ which offers a low-calorie spread for your guests including salads, chicken tikka skewers, cucumber, carrots & hummus platter, and a sharing fruit salad.

We are continuously looking for new ways to improve our nutrition goals through our menu items so the next time you are searching for healthy catering services in and around Manchester, please get in touch here to talk through our options and recommendations!